Verizon vs. Sprint for cellular coverage

[purbeast0]

When I was in Europe a few weeks ago, and got 12 GB of data for $20, it made me realize how much we're being raped in the USA for cell coverage.

Then I realized that my 2yr contract with Verizon is going to come to an end around mid October.

I'm currently paying about $180 - $190 a month with Verizon for my phone and my wifes phone, and I think we each have like 2 or 3 GB of data.

Sprint has the deal where you can have 2 devices and pay $100 a month for unlimited text, talk, and data. They claim it's unlimited and on 4G, but I don't know if they throttle or anything.

Neither my wife nor myself are what I'd call "power users" as far as data goes, since we're using so little monthly with Verizon. Some months my wife goes over but I don't know if I ever have.

I'm in the DC Metro area so it's pretty much around a city so I'm not in the sticks or anything and rarely am in the sticks.

I'm curious if anyone has used both Sprint and Verizon in recent times, and if so, if they can compare the 2 services. Is there any extra "fees" tacked on top of the $100/mo price with sprint, that would really make the price more like $120 or $140 or something?

 

[96Firebird]

Why are you paying so much on Verizon? I am on a Verizon plan with 2 other phones and 16GB data and pay around what you pay...

And the unlimited data is "mobile optimized", which usually means lower quality streaming.

Edit - Here is what "mobile-optimized data" gives you:

Mobile optimized: video streams at up to 480p+ resolution, music at up to 500kbps, gaming at up to 2mbps.

Or, you can pay $20 more a month for "premium resolution streaming":

Premium resolution: video streams at up to 1080p+, music at up to 1.5 mbps, gaming at up to 8mbps. Data deprioritization applies during times of congestion. Reqs. eBill. Other monthly charges apply.

Source

 

[vi edit]

I'd look at T-Mobile. New phones with band 12 help a lot with service in places that T-mobile traditionally had bad coverage. Pre-paid $40 plans will get you 3 gig of LTE data and then they give you a trickle stream of 128kbs after that...which is still fine for email and basic web searching. It's not a hard cutoff and they don't charge you for more data.

 

[purbeast0]

Why are you paying so much on Verizon? I am on a Verizon plan with 2 other phones and 16GB data and pay around what you pay...

And the unlimited data is "mobile optimized", which usually means lower quality streaming.

Edit - Here is what "mobile-optimized data" gives you:



Or, you can pay $20 more a month for "premium resolution streaming":



Source

I'm on some old ass plan. I am looking at my account right now.

My plan is $160/month and we're on the old 700 minutes plan, unlimited text, and 2Gb data each. This is like a really old plan and I never changed to the "newer" models due to me switching one time, and getting screwed with "prorated" plans because I switched wrong time of the month.

I just checked and I could get a plan that is $130/month that has 8GB shared data, unlimited talk/text, and some other stuff. And it allows the data to rollover so I'll have a stockpile of data most likely so it will seem like unlimited to me.

And now they have a thing on the site that says "start new plan at billing cycle end" which will eliminate that prorated shit I got screwed with before.

So I may just end up doing that then. The extra $30/month may just be worth it for the reliability of Verizon.

 

[Brainonska511]

If you like Google phones, you can go with a Nexus 6, 6P, or 5x and get Project Fi service. $20/month for unlimited talk/text and $10 per gigabyte (with unused data being credited back to your account at the rate you pay for it). Plus, it uses a mix of networks in your immediate area - either Sprint's, T-Mobile's, WiFi, or US Cellular.

 

[ControlD]

.

I just checked and I could get a plan that is $130/month that has 8GB shared data, unlimited talk/text, and some other stuff. And it allows the data to rollover so I'll have a stockpile of data most likely so it will seem like unlimited to me.

We are pretty much on the same plan, but we have three phones and 10GB of data. The rollover data with Verizon only rolls over to the next month, so you can't build up a huge bank of it.

 

[purbeast0]

If you like Google phones, you can go with a Nexus 6, 6P, or 5x and get Project Fi service. $20/month for unlimited talk/text and $10 per gigabyte (with unused data being credited back to your account at the rate you pay for it). Plus, it uses a mix of networks in your immediate area - either Sprint's, T-Mobile's, WiFi, or US Cellular.

Not a fan of Android, thanks though.

We are pretty much on the same plan, but we have three phones and 10GB of data. The rollover data with Verizon only rolls over to the next month, so you can't build up a huge bank of it.

Ah okay that is good to know at least. Either way I think it is overkill for us.

 

[Exterous]

We have sprint and while the coverage is good they are definitely slower in a lot of areas we've traveled to compared to Verizon. We were thinking of switching to T-Mobile for its international coverage and then Sprint rolled out unlimited text and data while overseas. They say its up to 2G data but we were able to get much faster speeds in certain parts of Spain and Australia

https://www.sprint.com/landings/international-value-roaming/

T-Mobile offers the same with (I think) better advertised speeds but their coverage where we live isn't as good\fast as Sprint

 

[96Firebird]

Yeah I figured you had an older plan - Verizon's plans have gotten cheaper, but they have taken away subsidized phones.

I also went with the 16GB plan because of the free roaming (voice/text/data) in Canada, for when I spend time at my parent's cottage up there. With 8GB, it was $2/day, but I needed 16GB due to a person on the plan needing data for their job.

 

[NutBucket]

I'm still on a old plan too with fixed minutes. But, two of the four data plans are unlimited.

....cold dead hands!

 

[poofyhairguy]

Verizon

AT&T







T-Mobile

































































Sprint

 

[purbeast0]

^^ LOL.

I pretty much already convinced myself to just stick with Verizon and lower my bill to $130 + fees.

 

[Linux23]

I love my google Project Fi.

 

[DrPizza]

That sounds good, but check even more into it. Go to one of the Verizon stores, and (unless you're locked into a contract) tell the clerk that you're comparing Verizon to Sprint and a couple of other carriers, because your friends are telling you how much they pay and that you're paying wayyyy too much for what you're getting. For a while, I thought we were paying too much. At some point, my wife wanted to upgrade her phone and I got dragged to the Verizon store with her. We walked out of there with a new phone for her, a new phone for me (both turbo 2's, with a ton of accessories to go with them, such as otter boxes), increased our data to, I believe 16GB, plus 2 extra GB each, or something like that, etc., not a penny out of our pockets, and our monthly bill went down pretty significantly from roughly the area you're paying - and we have two other phones on our account - both of my wife's parents are on our plan.

 

[zinfamous]

I'm currently using Google Fi, which is Wi-Fi calling, Sprint, and T-mobile. $25 gets you unlimited calling and text, and $10/gb of LTE data, and you are refunded what you don't use.

I'm also not a power user, so I end up spending about $26/month total.

So far, the calls are downright shitty quality with weird voicemail and notification delays, and I imagine it is the default dependence of Wi-Fi calling over network. But, I'm generally OK with it...for now, at least. I can't really speak to the Sprint coverage, because I don't really know when it is using Sprint towers.

Prior to this, I was on Cricket, which uses ATT towers. basic plan is $35/month for unlimited calls/text and 2gb LTE data. You also get bill discounts for referrals and all that. I did not have a problem with ATT network here in DC (except specifically in the building where I work, so, well, that sucked).

Prior to that was T-Mobile off contract--they actually have solid plans that offer free data with music/video streaming, as part of their basic data plans. It's been a long time for me, but it still shocks me that there are people out there still on contracts considering the absolute extortionate prices the big networks charge.


Get yourself an unlocked phone and pick up a non-contract plan.

 

[zinfamous]

Not a fan of Android, thanks though.

Oh, well then consider unlocking/getting unlocked iPhone and go with Cricket?
https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans

wow--they upped the data again. so it looks like $35/month gets you 2.5gb of data. Imagine that: 2 lines, unlimited calls/text, 5gb data, $70. (autopay knocks $5 off the main fee)
5gb each on two lines would be $90/month.

way better than what you were looking at with Verizon, and you no longer have some phone being locked to some other jerks.

 

[vi edit]

I'm currently using Google Fi, which is Wi-Fi calling, Sprint, and T-mobile. $25 gets you unlimited calling and text, and $10/gb of LTE data, and you are refunded what you don't use.

I'm also not a power user, so I end up spending about $26/month total.

So far, the calls are downright shitty quality with weird voicemail and notification delays, and I imagine it is the default dependence of Wi-Fi calling over network. But, I'm generally OK with it...for now, at least. I can't really speak to the Sprint coverage, because I don't really know when it is using Sprint towers.

Prior to this, I was on Cricket, which uses ATT towers. basic plan is $35/month for unlimited calls/text and 2gb LTE data. You also get bill discounts for referrals and all that. I did not have a problem with ATT network here in DC (except specifically in the building where I work, so, well, that sucked).

Prior to that was T-Mobile off contract--they actually have solid plans that offer free data with music/video streaming, as part of their basic data plans. It's been a long time for me, but it still shocks me that there are people out there still on contracts considering the absolute extortionate prices the big networks charge.


Get yourself an unlocked phone and pick up a non-contract plan.

I'm on Fi and love it. My bills are around $43 a month and that's with a financed phone that is $18 of that $43. So my bills are right around that $25 mark too. I don't have call quality issues. Sometimes the phone does fail to dial out the first time if I'm on wifi and some calls do go direct to voicemail. So it's not perfect. But call quality wise, use the hangouts dialer when on Wifi and it's crystal clear.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Sprint may have improved since I last had them in the Nashville area 5+ years ago. But it was a night and day difference when switching to Verizon. I'll (likely) never go back to Sprint. Pricing was better but in my area it was an obvious case of getting what you pay for.

 

[rh71]

You can just switch to the latest VZW plan. It's no longer the grandfathered plans that are best. We're paying less than you for 6GB across 3 phones.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Ringplus = $0 a month
Uses Sprint's towers and in my case I get 1k mins, 1k txt, and 1gig of data for $0 a month.

 

[Pulsar]

When I was in Europe a few weeks ago, and got 12 GB of data for $20, it made me realize how much we're being raped in the USA for cell coverage.

Then I realized that my 2yr contract with Verizon is going to come to an end around mid October.

I'm currently paying about $180 - $190 a month with Verizon for my phone and my wifes phone, and I think we each have like 2 or 3 GB of data.

Sprint has the deal where you can have 2 devices and pay $100 a month for unlimited text, talk, and data. They claim it's unlimited and on 4G, but I don't know if they throttle or anything.

Neither my wife nor myself are what I'd call "power users" as far as data goes, since we're using so little monthly with Verizon. Some months my wife goes over but I don't know if I ever have.

I'm in the DC Metro area so it's pretty much around a city so I'm not in the sticks or anything and rarely am in the sticks.

I'm curious if anyone has used both Sprint and Verizon in recent times, and if so, if they can compare the 2 services. Is there any extra "fees" tacked on top of the $100/mo price with sprint, that would really make the price more like $120 or $140 or something?

I use both sprint and verizon. Despite Sprint's claims, their coverage it still far worse than verizon. In addition, their data speed fluctuates hugely, from 2Mb to 6 Mb south of me to 14 Mb RIGHT under the tower north of me. Everywhere I go, Verizon is usually much more consistent and has higher speeds.

But the unlimited is truly unlimited. I use sprint as my home internet and I've burned through hundreds of gigs a month repeatedly. Never a problem, never throttled.

 

[zinfamous]

I'm on Fi and love it. My bills are around $43 a month and that's with a financed phone that is $18 of that $43. So my bills are right around that $25 mark too. I don't have call quality issues. Sometimes the phone does fail to dial out the first time if I'm on wifi and some calls do go direct to voicemail. So it's not perfect. But call quality wise, use the hangouts dialer when on Wifi and it's crystal clear.

OK, I'll try that. I did switch part of service to hangouts because it apparently would fix the voicemail delay (my delays for those were approaching several days at a time, which is nuts) and I was also having that issue with it failing to dial out (it actually started locking up on some "signing into wi-fi" nonsense window every time I tried to call), but it forced me into hangouts for SMS which I didn't want to do. Calling is generally OK on the go, but it's actually awful at home, and I think this is because my wifi has a hole in around two spots (I need to reboot my extender, or perhaps you wonderful AT people can recommend a more badass, value-conscious wireless router/modem doohicky with great range and security?). Anyway, if that fixes general call quality, I'll gladly do that.

It does drop half of my calls though--I mean half of a call, where I can hear the person on the other end, but they suddenly can't hear me. This is happening more frequently, but that is usually when I am on network.

It hasn't made me angry, though, so I'm still fine with it. With the $250 I paid for a 32gb Nexus 5x, I really can't complain (and that was an upgrade from my stalwart SGSII).

 

[zinfamous]

Ringplus = $0 a month
Uses Sprint's towers and in my case I get 1k mins, 1k txt, and 1gig of data for $0 a month.

whatthewhat? ....I need to look into this.

 

[TwiceOver]

Oh, well then consider unlocking/getting unlocked iPhone and go with Cricket?
https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans

wow--they upped the data again. so it looks like $35/month gets you 2.5gb of data. Imagine that: 2 lines, unlimited calls/text, 5gb data, $70. (autopay knocks $5 off the main fee)
5gb each on two lines would be $90/month.

way better than what you were looking at with Verizon, and you no longer have some phone being locked to some other jerks.

This is how my wife and I are set up. $70/mo and we rarely run out of data and even then it is just slowed down.

I thought about the Fi thing, I actually have a 5x from the Fi discount but Sprint + T-Mobile are the worst two carriers in my area (arguably the entire US) so it just wasn't do-able for us.

 

[zinfamous]

This is how my wife and I are set up. $70/mo and we rarely run out of data and even then it is just slowed down.

I thought about the Fi thing, I actually have a 5x from the Fi discount but Sprint + T-Mobile are the worst two carriers in my area (arguably the entire US) so it just wasn't do-able for us.

Yeah, I assumed I might be switching back to Cricket after the one month of Fi for the 5x discount, but it's fine for where I am. I don't mind T-Mobile, as it has always worked for me where I have lived and typically visit (Chicago, NC (well, Raleigh and Durham, mostly--not the hinterlands), Bay Area, Northern FL, DC area), but I would not have stuck with Fi if it was Sprint only, just from what other Sprint people have always claimed about service over the years. And I like that my phone actually works at work, compared to Cricket/ATT which is just a blackhole in our building.

I had Verizon for several years, many years ago, and they are the best call quality and service ime, but I never liked the price.